Sarah Shea
Sarah Shea
Sarah Shea has been a Parks Superintendent since April of 2023 and in that short time she quickly became a part of the County Parks family with her quick wit, intellect, understanding, patience, and yearning to ensure that all the staff and members of the public felt supported and included. One of the biggest impacts that Sarah has made as a Superintendent came from a grant that she applied for with San Andreas Regional Center (SARC) to secure funds for the Parks Department to use towards providing more inclusive recreation and aquatics programming and to also aide in providing staff trainings on how to work more inclusively in our community. Sarah’s efforts were successful and the Parks Department was awarded over $130,000, which has brought more free swim days to Simpkins Swim Center for the underserved, provided trainings to Parks staff from the National Inclusion Project about working with youth that are members of special populations, and provided materials to make our parks and aquatic center more accessible to members of those special populations. Sarah also helped to navigate a complicated contract with Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) to help provide out-of-school time programming throughout the year at two different school sites.
Sarah was able to find additional facilities and staffing so that these programs could accommodate hundreds of children each year; and not only did this benefit the youth in our community, but the contract more than doubled the amount of revenue previously brought in by these programs, bringing in almost half of a million dollars in just one year. In her role as Superintendent, Sarah has made significant improvements to the Parks Department and her efforts have made a huge impact on our community.
Steven Driscoll
Steven Driscoll
Steve Driscoll is a Vector Control Specialist for the Mosquito and Vector Control Division of the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, and over the last year, Steve has gone above and beyond in the detection zone for the invasive mosquito found in Watsonville, in October 2022. This invasive mosquito is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world where it is known to transmit diseases like Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya, and due to the danger of this mosquito, the California Department of Public Health mandates continued surveillance and control in an area of detection for a minimum of two years. This mosquito is different from our native species in that it specializes in taking advantage of people’s homes and yards. Ongoing inspections and trapping for this mosquito therefore requires frequently entering properties and approaching very personal boundaries for members of the public that live within the detection zone.
Through Steve’s personable and empathetic approach and demeanor, he has built trust with members of the small community, even with residents who were initially hard to reach. Steve has demonstrated immense tact, patience, and persistence when working with all the residents in the detection zone community, and without this rapport, our defense against this mosquito would not be as strong or successful. Steve continued to work hard in the detection neighborhood, even when the season for native mosquitoes picked up and his attention was needed in many places at once, and through Steve’s leadership and the team’s surveillance and control efforts, Vector Control has thankfully not found a single sample of this mosquito for over a year.
2023 Housing Element Team
Matthew Sundt, Suzanne Ise, David Carlson, Sheila McDaniel, Natisha Williams, Tracy Cunningham, Micaela Lopez, and Porcila Wilson
Front row, left to right: Suzanne Ise, Sheila McDaniel, Micaela Lopez, Tracy Cunningham
Back row, left to right: David Carlson, Matthew Sundt, Natisha Williams
Not pictured: Porcila Wilson
Like most jurisdictions in California, Santa Cruz County is facing a housing crisis of both supply and affordability. The Housing Element of the County's General Plan addresses both housing programs, including affordable housing and homelessness, and sites available for the future development of housing. Faced with the daunting task of accommodating up to 4,634 housing units in the next eight years, approximately one-half of which must be affordable, the 2023 Housing Element Team created a new Housing Element that provides the policy blueprint for needed programs and homes to address the crisis. Working with consultants supporting community involvement, the project included extensive public outreach and meetings which provided valuable input from community housing partners, stakeholder groups, and County citizens of diverse backgrounds, needs, and experiences. The Team worked on a tight deadline imposed by the State, and in just 10 months they were able to draft a Housing Element that met both the community's needs and detailed State requirements. Because of the thoroughness and hard work of this Team, the Housing Element was unanimously adopted by the Board of Supervisors on November 14, 2023, providing our County with a guide for the future of addressing our housing needs.